Bowhunting.com Blog

Wolves and Their Impact On Hunting: How Real Is The Threat?

Posted by: Tracy Breen on Jun 20, 2012

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Rockholm shared some disturbing information: Money from the Pittmon-Robertson Act (which is the money that is made from the sales of sporting goods like arrows and hunting gear that is supposed to be used for wildlife management and hunting programs) was illegally used by anti-hunting groups because of political connections to reintroduce wolves in the West. Rockholm says that $70 million was used. So hunters primarily financed the current wolf fiasco.

Rockholm is a diehard hunter who has put his money where his mouth is to fight the wolf fight. “I currently spend about 50% of my income fighting this battle. It is very sad to think about my kids and their kids not being able to see and hunt the wildlife that we currently see and hunt, but it is coming. Very soon, hunting elk and mule deer in the West could be a thing of the past,” Rockholm said.

Rockholm spends much time and money getting the message out that wolves are not cute, harmless little puppies. “I spend lots of time and money trying to teach people the truth about wolves. Wolves are killing machines. Yellowstone Park is an example of what wolves can and will do if they are allowed to go unchecked. Hunters and the American people have been deceived into thinking there aren’t that many wolves. The truth is the population is much greater than the Game and Fish Departments and anti-hunters tell us. We still have a lot of good game wardens and people in the Game and Fish Departments across the United States, but there are many anti-hunters working for the Game and Fish Departments as well. I refer to wolf introduction as scientific fraud. We always hear the wolf numbers aren’t great. We hear that their population isn’t growing very quickly when things are out of control which is exactly what anti-hunters want. They want wolves to spread throughout the entire country and when they do, hunting as we know it today will be a distant memory,” Rockholm explained.

Scenes like this one are becoming more and more common in a growing number of western states.

Many of you reading this might think that Rockholm is a little off his rocker. Many people probably think there is no way the wolves will kill hunting. However, it is already starting to happen out west. “There are many towns that survived almost entirely off hunter dollars that are pretty much gone. Little restaurants, hotels, outfitters and other businesses have disappeared from the landscape just like the elk and deer. Our moose population in Idaho is next to nothing now and the elk population is down by about 60% in my opinion,” Rockholm added.

So what can hunters do? “We need to unite to fight the wolves and the anti-hunter propaganda. Hunters fight over which weapon to use or when seasons should take place while the anti-hunters join forces and achieve their goals. The only way we stand a chance in this fight is by fighting against the anti-hunter together and realizing that soon, we will have to stand against anti-hunters and their political friends who try to introduce wolves across the country to destroy hunting. If we have half a chance of getting rid of wolves and saving our hunting heritage, we will probably have to hunt big game less to save them and kill lots of wolves instead. I don’t say these things to scare people; I just think this is the direction we are headed,” Rockholm advised.

The truth is the wolf battle has been going on for twenty years but hunters have only become aware of how big the problem is recently. Out west there are high mountain valleys where elk once lived in abundance that are now void of all big game animals. There are hound hunters out west who don’t dare let their hounds out of their kennels because too many dogs have been killed by the wolves. There are people who don’t walk in the woods anymore because they are afraid they will be attacked by wolves. This isn’t the bill of goods most people were sold when they were told wolves would be introduced into the Rocky Mountains.

While our Presidency is a serious matter so our Wolves. The non-hunting public has been led to believe that Wolves need to be here. I fear very little in life including Mountain Lions (Cougars) but hunting alone or even with a partner in Wolf country scares the hell out of me. Hunt them until they are gone or almost gone and keep them that way.

I would like to thank Bowhunting.com in standing up for our remaining western wildlife and allowing Scott Rockholm to present the truth about the government imported wolves. I started hiking in Yellowstone back in 1984. I fell in love with the park, surrounding area, and magnificent wildlife. I’ve been fortunate to have a job where I was sent west frequently on business….always managed to take leave to hike in Yellowstone over the years. The mighty herds of elk and plentiful moose I enjoyed in the 1980’s showed evidence of population reduction after 2000. I was last in Yellowstone in 2010....only saw one moose with calf and elk in small numbers near the roads and populated areas. Hiking in Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley where I once saw numerous elk...I only saw bones and wolf scat. Alaska, Canada, and Russia are the models we should be following if the remaining animals are to survive in the Predator Pit liberal wild-life biologists have successfully implemented. Hunters, ranchers, hi

Traci in answer to your questions yes I wholeheartedly think Rockholm is spot on, and yes most obviously anti hunters are using the wolf to attempt to seriously curtail hunting opportunities.
I don't hate wolves, but we don't need them at all, which leads me to my one quibble with your article. There is no "balance of nature". Balance of nature is a fallacy and is no longer taught to any University level ecology majors. Nature is in "flux" and sometimes settles at an equilibrium for a while, until something disturbs it. There is no need for wolves to keep elk numbers under control, we have cats and bears and best of all humans.

Rockholm is off his rocker. Have wolves had an impact on elk? Sure they have. Down 60%! Hardly. In. Certain zones elk numbers are down. Zones like the Lolo in particular, but those numbers were trending downward, from 16000 to 5000 before the wolves had any impact. But if you look at IDFG numbers for Idaho elk numbers, you will find his numbers to be wrong. And as much as Rockholm rants about Yellowstone being dead, it's not true.
I'm not from out west, I'm from Northern MN and I live on the Edge of the densest wolf population in the lower 48. I've seen wolves from my doorway, have scat all over and they eat deer that are in abundance. MN has had 3000 wolves /- for the past 10 years. No body has been attacked. There have been livestock and dog issues, but nothing like Mr. Rockholm would have you believe.
I enjoy the fruits of hunting. Wolves are not a government conspiracy to take away hunting "rights". They are wild animals, impressive predators, and must be respected as su

As bowhunters we have an obligation to respect all wildlife, not just the game animals we are interested in. Savage Beasts? Horror story? Those are some pretty loaded, narrow-minded views. Animal rights groups attempting to ruin hunting by killing all the game species? Think before you speak...does that make any sense at all? Wolf reintroduction has been a massive success, too much so in many areas. Now that the states have control, almost every agency is putting management programs in place, with hunters in the drivers seat. If we want to keep the keys, we need to accept our role as wolf managers and give up these anti-wolf extremist ideals.

I do think wolves need to be better controlled and there needs to be tags issued to keep the population in check. The wolves are traveling a great lakes wolf was killed by a friend of mine in central missouri in 2010 and yes he got into a lot of hot water over it.

Thank you Immer and JHaus for being the only two with a logical, properly-functioning brain in this thread. The narrow-minded, ignorant article coupled with the blatantly misinformed participants in the discussion is baffling. Please, don't make us bow-hunters who actually have a head on our shoulders look bad.
Sincerely,
Alex

Immer, JHaus, what a bunch of phonies that don't live anywhere near wolves. Only a fool would believe anything Immer say she is liar from Australia that has no clue Jhaus sound like some back east hunter without a clue of the destruction wolves have caused. Poor Alex sounds like a phony hunter promoting the wolf cult propaganda. Yes the truth about wolves is known to any real hunter they are wiping out the game end of story and only a childish immature fool believes in the fairy tale of nature is perfect and wolves balance it. There is not one scientific study proving wolves are needed in the eco system. The Lolo Elk study proved that wolves are the main problem wiping out 70% of elk cows and calves. The experts in Idaho and Montana are now admitting the truth the wolves are wiping out the game herds. The Federal Law clearly states 100 wolves per state. For you Alex the pretend hunter you don't have you head on your shoulders you are making yourself look like a fool. But that is nothi

Is Scott Rockholm off his rocker? Well maybe sometimes but on the wolf issue he is spot on. I am one of the people who live smack dab in the middle of this controversy and it is a very scary place to be.Wolves reducing our elk herds about 60% that is no lie. I read on another post about the Lolo Zone and they were commenting that the Lolo Zone was declining before the wolves were introduced, Wrong!!! These wolves which by the way are not an endangered species were introduced into the Lolo Zone first and that's the area that first started seeing the impact of the wolves. Soon other areas were being added to the list of areas to introduce wolves into. Yes The Fish and Game departments tried to keep it hush hush by suggesting the decline in the elk populations in the Lolo Zone was caused from habitat and hunters. If they could get people to believe that fairy tale then hunters wouldn't mind the introduction of more wolves into more areas right? Those of us who actually live here and have

Rockholm is off his rocker. Just your typical wolf hating whackjob. He is in the same league as Ron Gillet, Toby Bridges, Tony Mayer, etc. The man is very good at propaganda. He would make Joseph Goebbels proud.

I was wondering how long it would take Timmy, Erica, David Cannon Jr and host of other fake names to show up and attack me. LMAO Yes the truth about wolves destroying the elk herd and section after section after section being closed down to hunting or restricted hunts is not propaganda it called documented facts. Erica try to stay on the topic which is wolves destroying the game herds. Your personal attacks just proves my point there is no science, facts, or good reason for wolves in the west unless they are heavily controlled with no more then 100 per State. I guess you are a science hater too since the Federal law was base on the best available science for wolves in an eco system. That would be 100 wolves per state. So Rick or what ever fake name you reply with next stay on topic and prove the Federal law is wrong on that! You can't because the Federal courts have already ruled on this topic and wolf control is now the law of the land. Please learn to follow the law and support the l

@Prohuman,
So now I'm from Australia , eh, or should I say Oye? Sitting in a screened in porch gazing at a sea of white pine, balsam and popple with eastern phoebes perched in the near distance and the mournful call of white throated sparrows in the background.
Sorry, but this is not Australia. The land of 10,000 lakes has served as a reservoir for wolves and as a good example for how to live with wolves.
And as far as the Lolo elk population just go to the IDFG site and peruse their data. By the IDFG accounts, wolves put no "hurt" on Lolo elk until 2005, by which time the elk nUmbers had already plummeted from~ 16,000 to 5,000, and part of that decline included unwise over hunting.
I am in no way saying wolves do not have impact on the current Lolo elk. If I am correct the wolf season in the Lolo has just recently ended.
The point of my original post was to point out that Mr. Rockholm is a member of the extreme anti-wolf contingent. He has become a great part of the problem i

Check out Rockholm's video yellowstone is dead. You'll get a kick out of this video full of propaganda. The only reason why Rockholm thinks yellowstone is dead is because there are less elk now in yellowstone. The elk were overpopulated and needed to be thinned. Rockholm's followers take anything he says as gospel. They are brainwashed.

I wonder how the deer, elk, etc survived before man came along to kill off the big bad deer. nature has a way of balanceing things out. Your all just a bunch of cry babies because with the return of the wolfs you can't go out and kill as many game animals as you like. get over it.

Must be nice to all have jobs where the gov't can come in and take thousands of dollars out of your paycheck on top of your taxes. And you have to let them do it. All you get to do is stand there on your own property and watch as their Canadian imports rip the belly out of your cows and run the rest ragged. This IS happening right now. This is not propaganda. The wolves are supreme hunting machines and at this time have free reign in the state on private and public lands under the full protection of a court order. This is actually not good for the wolves as ranchers are taking matters into their own hands. It is one thing to be dispatched by bullet, it is another to die agonizingly of renal failure after eaten tainted meat.

Wisconsin is having similiar issues with our wolves, but we took a stand and have passed a wolf hunintg season. The Phrase "Wolves are like a cancer" couldnt be more true. We need to be aggressive about this issue and get it done.

wow people grow up we are all hunters and all love wildlife. why pick fights with each other through the use of a computer and keyboard. peta probably looks on here and just smiles at you fools. we should be a team fighting the same fight not each other. let your egos go and find a thing called maturity. thanks that is all

Ok, how about if we blame President Obama for the cancer in our families or the drought in the Southwest. I mean hell, he is to blame for everything, right?
Keep your eye on the prize and stop falling for the Fox news/Rush Limpburger con job. The move to introduce the wolves into certain states was not something that was started or initiated by the Obama administration (it was proposed long before he took office), I mean come on guys, there is a balance that needs to be attained. It is the balance that God intended. Should we wipe out wolves (who were here long before us) completely, NO. But they should also not have free reign to breed and decimate herds as they are doing now. They should be part of an aggressive, but common sense management program to get their numbers under control.
Personally, I think they would make a challenging hunt. They are smart, function as a team and dangerous. What more to get the heart pumping for a big game hunter?

are you serious? First... wolves are not "beasts" they are animals, we are too, and guess what? we were the ones who invaded their territory in the first place, we forced them to attack us or our domestic animals because there's barely other things to eat, and now you complain? yes that's the stupid human nature I so hate, wolves have the right to live as much as we do and you worry about not being able to hunt for fun? wolves hunt to eat, to survive! what a silly little narrow mind you have, I pity you, all of you who think wolves should die, you are the ones that should die for thinking like this you're only polluting this world thinking that way, go grow a pair of balls and give nature the respect it deserves.